Sponsored link
Thursday, September 18, 2025

Sponsored link

Bad urbanism: Tech and planning forum misses the point

By Zelda Bronstein

On Jan. 7, I went to an evening panel discussion at the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association entitled “What Urban Planning Can Learn from Tech and Vice Versa.” It was one of the most disconcerting forums I have ever attended.

Perhaps that was only to be expected, since what drew me there was an equally disconcerting experience: last December I read an article on The New York Times Opinionator blog called “What Tech Hasn’t Learned from Urban Planning.” The author was the moderator of Tuesday’s panel, Allison Arieff, SPUR’s editor and “content strategist.”

Arieff’s point of departure in the Times piece was a seeming contradiction:

The tech sector is, increasingly, embracing the language of urban planning—town hall, public square, civic hackathon, community engagement. So why are tech companies such bad urbanists? (More after the jump)

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit here. We also invite you to join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Sponsored link

Sponsored link
Sponsored link

Latest

Writer Michael Luo is ready for the happy ending

'Strangers in the Land' author shares what his deeply researched book on Chinese immigration history has in common with 'KPop Demon Hunters.'

Folsom 2025 brings Twisted Windows, joyful gates, a continually expanding Playground

Four of the kinky fair's players take us behind the juicy scenes (and history) of this year's fetish fest.

Good Taste: Portola Music Fest promises a Pokémon bowl, dirrty drinks—and no lines

Quaffable highlights for this weekend's bayside blowout, including the debut of beloved Saigon Sandwich

Puff: Sampling the best of blooms at a streamlined Hall of Flowers

Pros know the preeminent NorCal cannabis expo is the spot for sampling the year's hot buds.

You might also likeRELATED